This article presents a study, including participant details, methodology, and results, that tested the effectiveness of a preventive intervention program aimed at fostering positive parent-child or caregiver-child relationships in Native families living on a rural reservation.
The study presented in this article tested the effectiveness of Promoting First Relationships® (PFR), a preventive intervention program aimed at fostering positive caregiver-child relationships in Native families living on a rural reservation. Participants were 162 primary caregivers and their Native toddlers. Families were randomized to a PFR group (n = 81) or Resource and Referral (RR) control group (n = 81), after baseline data collection (Time 1) to assess the quality of caregiver-child interaction, caregiver knowledge about children’s social-emotional needs, caregiver depressive symptoms, and child externalizing behavior. After delivery of the PFR intervention or the RR service, follow-up assessments were repeated immediately post-intervention (Time 2) and three months later (Time 3). After controlling for baseline assessments, multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that caregivers in the PFR group had significantly higher scores on knowledge about children’s social-emotional needs at Time 2 and Time 3 and less severe depressive symptoms at Times 2 and 3. At Time 3, the quality of caregiver-child interaction was better in the PFR group, an effect that was moderated by severity of depressive symptoms, with PFR having the greatest impact at low levels of initial symptoms. The authors present their results, which support the positive impact of PFR in a Native community, and suggest conditions under which the intervention may be most effective. Publisher Abstract Provided